Colonnello emerged from the smoke, stepping through the chaos with the same precision he always had—like it was nothing. He didn’t seem hurt. Didn’t seem angry. But his eyes, calm yet too knowing, locked onto yours.

“You’re not safe when I’m not around…” His voice was soft, but the weight of it made your skin prickle. He brushed a loose thread from your shoulder, the movement too deliberate. “But you already know that, don’t you?”

You opened your mouth to speak—It wasn’t that dangerous—but he didn’t let you. His fingers were under your chin, tilting your face up, forcing you to meet his gaze. His touch was soft, but there was something hard in his eyes.

“So why do you keep wandering off, bella?”

His words were gentle, but there was a quiet reprimand in them, something that didn’t just scold, but possessed. His thumb brushed your lips, wiping away a speck of dust, though it wasn’t really about the dust.

“You think you’re capable,” he continued, voice dropping lower. “Maybe you are. But it doesn’t matter how harmless it looked. You weren’t where I left you.”

He smiled then—small, almost amused, but something in it made you uneasy. Like he was testing you. Testing how much you would push against him.

He stepped back just enough to let the air return to your lungs, but not enough to let you forget.

“Next time,” he said, his voice trailing off as he turned to leave, “don’t make me chase you.”

The words hung in the air, and even as he walked away, you couldn’t shake the feeling that he was still there, watching, waiting. And you knew, deep down, you didn’t have as much freedom as you thought.